The full effect of Western sanctions is starting to be felt in Russia and officials in Vladimir Putin's government have been forced to admit the impact. Newsweek: "Alexei Kudrin, chairman of Russia's accounts chamber, a parliamentary financial body, said that preliminary estimates showed base rate inflation could reach as high as 20.7 percent in the 2022/2023 financial year." ... "This is a crisis that is bigger than the 2009 crisis, bigger than the pandemic crisis," Kudrin s

Tens of thousands of young, well-educated Russians are leaving the country to find freedom and better job opportunities in the European Union [EU], Israel, and neighboring nations like Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The Economist: "Since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th, tens of thousands of Russians have hurriedly left their homes, travelling to any nearby destination that will allow them in visa-free; one prominent economist estimated that at least 200,000 had fled b

Things really couldn't have gone any worse for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine and it's no wonder that he has resorted to hiring food tasters to prevent an assassination. He has made a lot of powerful Russians very unhappy and is about to drive the Russian economy over a cliff. He misjudged the situation badly and has backed himself into a corner from which there is no easy or face-saving escape. Let us count the ways. 1. NATO revitalized. As we have written befor

Make no mistake, the odds are heavily stacked in Vladimir Putin's favor, but the stories of Ukrainian heroics in their battle to save their homeland will inspire the world to isolate and humiliate the Russian dictator. And the protestors across Russia who are defying Putin and risking their freedom represent the beginning of a new democratic opposition to authoritarianism. Ukrainian Heroes: Thirteen Ukrainian border guards were killed after refusing to surrender Snake Island

As former President Donald Trump continues to praise Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for his "very savvy" invasion of Ukraine, it is hard not to think back to his first impeachment in 2019 by the US House of Representatives. The former President was impeached for withholding security aid authorized by Congress in order to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into pursuing bogus and politically motivated investigations that might have damaged Joe Biden’s White House bi

Vladimir Putin is just another of history's narcissistic madmen willing to spill the blood of his countrymen in order to retain absolute power. Ukraine poses no threat to Russia except as an example of what a free, modern, western democracy can achieve. The former US Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, made the point this week in an article for the Atlantic Council. The Atlantic Council: "This crisis was entirely fabricated by Russian President Vladimir Putin; there is